MYCOTAXON Volume 106, pp. 409–412 October–December 2008

Re-identification of the anamorph of Leuconectria grandis

Wen-Ying Zhuang & Jing Luo [email protected] & [email protected] Key Laboratory of Systematic Mycology and Lichenology Laboratory Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100101, China

Abstract — The anamorph of Leuconectria grandis was previously reported as Gliocephalotrichum cylindrosporum based on morphological characteristics. Re-examination of the anamorph and DNA sequence analysis of ITS and β-tubulin indicate that the anamorph of L. grandis is distinct from G. cylindrosporum and represents an unnamed species of Gliocephalotrichum. Following the recommendation of the current International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, we avoid creating a name for the anamorph of L. grandis. Keywords — correction, morphology, taxonomy

Introduction When the leaf-inhabiting Leuconectria grandis (, ) was established, its anamorph was described at the same time and treated as Gliocephalotrichum cylindrosporum based on morphological characteristics. Distinctions between the Gliocephalotrichum material from China (ex type culture of L. grandis) and the original description of G. cylindrosporum from Thailand (Wiley & Simmons 1971) were discussed and treated as infraspecific variations (Zhuang et al. 2007). Following the recent work on Gliocephalotrichum by Decock et al. (2006), it becomes necessary to clarify the taxonomic placement of the anamorph of L. grandis based on a combination of morphology and ITS and β-tubulin sequence analysis.

Material and methods Material used in this study is listed in Table 1. DNA was extracted from the ex-type culture of Leuconectria grandis. DNA fragments and primers were selected and DNA amplified in accordance with procedures outlined in Decock et al. (2006). PCR products were purified using 3S Spin PCR Product Purification

* Author for correspondence. 410 ... Zhuang & Luo Kit (Shenergy Biocolor for Life Science Co., Ltd.), then sequenced using the same PCR primers with an ABI 3730 DNA analyzer by SinoGenoMax, Ltd. Sequences were analyzed using the package MEGA4.10 (Tamura et al. 2007). The resulting Neighbor-joining tree was derived from analyses of combined sequences of ITS and β-tubulin genes with Glionectria tenuis as outgroup.

Table 1. Material studied

Taxa GenBank number ITS β-tubulin Calonectria pauciramosa C.L. Schoch & Crous AF210886 AY078121 Calonectria pyrochroa (Desm.) Sacc. AY078115 AY078120 Gliocephalotrichum bacillisporum Decock & Huret 1 DQ374408 DQ374413 Gliocephalotrichum bacillisporum 2 DQ374409 DQ374414 Gliocephalotrichum bulbilium J.J. Ellis & Hesselt. 1 DQ374406 DQ377830 Gliocephalotrichum bulbilium 2 DQ374407 DQ377829 Gliocephalotrichum cylindrosporum B.J. Wiley & E.G. Simmons 1 DQ366705 DQ377841 Gliocephalotrichum cylindrosporum 2 DQ366706 DQ377842 Gliocephalotrichum longibrachium Decock & Charue 1 DQ278422 DQ377835 Gliocephalotrichum longibrachium 2 DQ278421 DQ377836 Gliocephalotrichum microchlamydosporum (J.A. Mey.) DQ366700 DQ374411 B.J.Wiley & E.G. Simmons 1 Gliocephalotrichum microchlamydosporum 2 DQ366701 DQ374412 Gliocephalotrichum ohiense L.H. Huang & J.A. Schmitt DQ366707 DQ374415 Gliocephalotrichum simplex (J.A. Mey.) B.J. Wiley & E.G.Simmons 1 DQ366703 DQ377839 Gliocephalotrichum simplex 2 DQ366704 DQ377840 Glionectria tenuis Crous & C.L. Schoch AF220980 AF320194 Leuconectria grandis Y. Nong & W.Y. Zhuang EF121859 U984072

Results and discussion Re-examination of the Leuconectria grandis anamorph indicates that it differs from any known species of Gliocephalotrichum by combining the following features: sterile arms that more or less directly subtend a conidiogenous penicillus in groups of 1–3 with a single arm sometimes growing distantly at the lower portion of conidiophore or occasionally present on both the upper and basal portions; the surface of the sterile arms often covered by an amorphous substance; and narrow-cylindrical conidia that average 8.5−13 × 1.2−1.5 μm. Although the L. grandis anamorph more closely resembles G. cylindrosporum than any other Gliocephalotrichum species with respect to conidial shape and size, the position of the sterile arms is different. Compared to all species producing similarly placed sterile arms, the L. grandis anamorph produces narrower, longer conidia that distinguish it (Decock et al. 2006). The anamorph appears to represent an unnamed species of Gliocephalotrichum. Leuconectria grandis anamorph re-determined ... 411

To help determine the taxonomic position of the , ITS and β-tubulin gene sequences obtained from the known species of Gliocephalotrichum and L. grandis were analyzed, and a Neighbor-joining tree was constructed (Fig. 1). Our molecular data indicate that 1) Gliocephalotrichum is a monophyletic genus with a relatively high bootstrap support (92%); 2) a sister-group relationship can be recognized within the genus that correlates with the positioning of the sterile arms; 3) G. cylindrosporum and G. simplex (both producing sterile arms arising at a distance from the conidiogenous penicillus) form one highly (100%) supported group; 4) the remaining species (all producing sterile arms that directly subtend the conidiogenous penicillus) belong to a moderately (73%) supported second group; and 5) there is a very low (42%) bootstrap support for a relationship between L. grandis and G. longibrachium. Our data clearly indicate that the L. grandis anamorph is not conspecific with G. cylindrosporum but rather represents a distinct and unnamed species of Gliocephalotrichum. In accordance with the current International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (McNeill et al. 2006: Rec. 59A.3), we do not propose a separate name for the new Gliocephalotrichum species. The holomorph name Leuconectria grandis adequately designates both teleomorph and anamorph.

Fig. 1 Neighbor-joining tree based on sequence analysis of ITS and β-tubulin genes, showing the relationships among species of the anamorphic genus Gliocephalotrichum. 412 ... Zhuang & Luo Acknowledgments The authors express their deep thanks to Dr. Shaun Pennycook for nomenclature consultation, Dr. S. Pennycook and Dr. Yei-Zeng Wang for serving as the pre-submission reviewers, and Dr. Lorelei Norvell for editorial revision and corrections of language. This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 30470009, 30670055), Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Special Project for Fundamental Research no. 2006FY120100) and State 863 Project (no. 2008AA02Z312) to WYZ.

Literature cited

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